Home Entertainment James Cameron talks Avatar 4, Battle Angel Alita gets some more details

James Cameron talks Avatar 4, Battle Angel Alita gets some more details

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So what exactly is happening with Avatar 2-3? Sigourney Weaver and numerous producers behind the project have had numerous things to say, hinting at a fourth film possibly being made, but we’ve heard very little from the sub-master (not the sammich) himself, James Cameron.

Except now we have, as the 3D-meister himself has finally shed some light on his plans for the sequels, and even spoke about that other project which he has been holding on to tightly, Battle Angel Alita.

Speaking to MTV, Cameron said that a fourth film was indeed being planned, and that he had an idea where it would be seated in the continuity circle of his future trilogy:

I have an idea for a fourth. I haven’t really put pen to paper on it, but basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora, and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na’vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world.

Because every fourth film in a franchise has to be a prequel then. Cameron says that by going the back-story route with Avatar, he’d be able to give fans a new film that would somehow feel fresh, after a trilogy of movies that involved tall Smurfs raping flying dragons with their head-penises.

We’ll start, not imitating Star Wars, but it’s a logical thing to do because we’ll have completed the thematic arc by the end of three. The only thing left to do is go back to see what it was like on those first expeditions and create some new characters that then become legacy characters in later films. It’s a plan.

Still, those films are still a few years away, due to the fact that Cameron wants to take his time getting the ridiculously advanced technology streamlined for the sequels, to give him and his crew an easier shoot:

We’ve spent two years refining the whole pipeline. It was a hideously complex process to make that film and a lot has been said about that, but we don’t want it to be done in the same prototypical way as the first one, we want it to be a much smoother workflow just for creativity reasons.

As for life after Pandora and the search for plausibletanium, it looks like Cameron will be setting his sights on finally getting Battle Angel Alita made, according to producer Jon Landau. Speaking to Moviezine, Landau explained that the project was not destined to languish in developmenet hell forever.

“I am sure you will get to see Battle Angel”, Landau said.

It is one of my favourite stories, a great story about a young woman’s journey to self-discovery. It is a film that begs the question: What does it mean to be human?’ Are you human if you have a heart, a brain or a soul? I look forward to giving the audience the film.

That’s a film with no solid casting yet though, because it won’t be hitting our screens until 2017 at the earliest, although we’re doubtful that it will even be released this decade. Still, the themes and visuals in that cult classic manga comic and animated series suit Cameron perfectly, and it’d be great to see all the advances from the Avatar films applied to that one.

“Who we want to put in the lead role today and who we want to put in the lead role when the time comes, it can be two totally different people who would be right for the role. Now we focus on Avatar for the next four or five years. It will hopefully right after that”, Landau said.

Big plans, big ideas, now just make the damn films already.

Last Updated: September 10, 2012

5 Comments

  1. James Francis

    September 10, 2012 at 12:39

    Battle ANGLE? What will it be about – a brilliant military manoeuvre? :p

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      September 10, 2012 at 12:59

      Dammit, Darryn. You’re embarrassing us over here!

      Reply

      • Darryn_Bonthuys

        September 10, 2012 at 13:09

        Sorry guys, I accidentally flashed my America in that typo.

        Reply

  2. Lourens Corleone

    September 10, 2012 at 13:13

    I wonder if they’ll show the Avatar origin story, where Gargamel creates Neytiri to infiltrate the Avatarians so they he can capture and eat them all.

    Reply

  3. Kervyn Cloete

    September 10, 2012 at 16:15

    Truthfully, while I have almost no overwhelming urge to see Avatar 2 and 3 (despite the fact that I probably will end up seeing them), I’m actually rather interested in Avatar 4.

    The best part of the Avatar Extended Edition for me was the expanded opening on Earth. That world seemed far more interesting, and I’m hoping that Avatar 4 would be able to touch on that again.

    Reply

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